A Cohort Study of Stress and the Common Cold

Abstract

The common cold is one of the major causes of work absenteeism. Former studies, based on artificial inoculation of rhinovirus, implicated psychological stress in the occurrence of this syndrome, either by increasing susceptibility to the virus or by causing the subject to overrate the perception of the symptoms. Nevertheless, few studies on the effect of stress on the naturally acquired common cold have been conducted. We carried out a 1-year prospective cohort study among the faculty and staff of a Spanish university (N = 1,149). By means of standardized questionnaires, validated in a random sample of the population, we assessed the relation between the occurrence of common cold episodes and exposure to four dimensions of stress: stressful life events, negative affect, positive affect, and perceived stress. All four aspects of stress were related to the occurrence of the common cold. Subjects with a high (fourth quartile) index of negative affect showed an incidence rate ratio of 3.7 (95% confidence interval = 2.2-6.2). The incidence rate ratios for the fourth quartile were 2.5 (95% confidence interval = 1.5-4.1) and 1.9 (95% confidence interval = 1.1-3.2) for perceived stress and stressful events, respectively. A high index of positive affect was associated with an incidence rate ratio of 0.6 (95% confidence interval = 0.3-1.0). These findings suggest that psychological stress is a risk factor for the common cold.

Associations between mental disorders and the common cold in adults: A population-based cross-sectional study

“…Unlike previous research estimating associations of colds and mental health by using self-reports of mental health conditions related to symptom scales [1][2][3][4][5], this study used DSM-IV mental disorder diagnoses that were assessed with a well-established standardized diagnostic interview, administered by trained clinical interviewers. It is also noteworthy that our findings are based on data from a representative population sample, whereas earlier findings about the effect of mental health on the vulnerability to colds mostly relied on results from experimental studies that used subjects fulfilling certain health criteria.…”

“…Several studies have revealed that poor mental health conditions including perceived stress [1][2][3] and negative mood [2,4,5] are risk factors for developing a common cold. However, prior data relate to symptom scales rather than diagnoses of mental disorders.…”

“…Available knowledge of the impact of mental health on the vulnerability to upper respiratory infections largely relies on experimental studies, in which subjects fulfilling certain health conditions were exposed to viruses [3]. According to the findings from the World Mental Health Surveys [11], growing numbers of people frequently experience co-occurrence of physical and mental disorders.…”

Effect of vitamin C on common cold: randomized controlled trial

“…Potential bias is inevitable in any study. Although the subjects were randomized to each group and data were analyzed by considering several factors, the effect of unmeasured factors such as physical and psychologic stress may be important in evaluating the role of vitamin C on the common cold (Hemila, 1996;Takkouche et al, 2001). The findings in this study must be interpreted in light of possible sample selection bias, which may affect the ability to apply our results to other populations.…”

Effect of Zinc Supplements on Preventing Upper Respiratory Infections in Air Force Academy Cadets in Basic Training

“…Oftentimes individuals will not seek medical intervention until symptoms becomes more serious or uncomfortable. Using a previously validated disease assessment instrument for the common cold (Takkouche et al, 2001(Takkouche et al, , 2002, our subjects reported a myriad of symptoms on a rated scale. Subjects also had the option of reporting zero symptoms at each weekly reporting period.…”